


Crimson the colour of blood

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: Scream Street
Genre: Best Friends, Book Series: Scream Street, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Insecurity, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Repressed Memories, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 07:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19458847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: Resus is thinking about what happened with the Crimson Queen in the fairy realm again, and Luke finds him mellowing in his pain at the top of the ruined remains of Sneer Hall, watching the sunrise and hating himself more than normal.Luke decides to pay him a well-meaning visit. One he definitely needs.





	Crimson the colour of blood

**Author's Note:**

> I really love this book and I wish I could do it justice but instead, all you've got is this piece of crap

Luke found him just as the sun was beginning to rise across Scream Street, his legs dangling over the edge of one of the dilapidated ruins that once was the not-so-humble abode of Sir Otto Sneer and his grubby nephew Dixon. With a little bit of effort, because Luke wasn’t as good as climbing, especially without the fake nails, he joined him up on the wall. “Hey.”

Kicking his legs, Resus had his eyes firmly fixed on the slowly rising sun and the vibrant yet muted colours that spread across the town. Luke dimly remembered the sing-song from back in his world and wondered if the same rules applied in Scream Street. If they did, it was going to rain. “Hey,” Resus replied. “What are you doing up here?”

“I was actually about to ask you the same question,” Luke kicked his heels against the wall in time to Resus’s until the steady rhythm made thinking a little easier. “I thought I’d find you near Eefa’s shop or at Kian’s. Never thought of you as a Sneer Hall person.”

“Yeah, well,” Resus shrugged. “It was the last place I thought anyone would look for me.”

“You were right about that,” Luke laughed lightly, hoping to get a similar effect out of his friend, but it didn’t seem to have his desired outcome. “I looked everywhere! I even had a peek at Doug's to see if you had hidden away over there. I never expected you to be… here.” He waved his hand at the ruins that once belonged to their landlord. “Why are you here?”

Sighing, Resus ran a still hand through his hair, but the wind blew it back into his face. “Because I knew nobody would look for me here,” he said nonchalantly, and the lack of emotion was really starting to worry Luke. “Why _did_ you come looking for me?”

Luke felt like they were going around in circles. “Your mum knocked on our door last night and told my parents that she watched you leave.” Resus winced so Luke clarified. “She wasn’t worried. She just wanted me or Cleo to make sure you were alright. She said that she’d noticed that you’ve been pretty down recently, and honestly, so have we. Cleo just didn’t want me to say anything in case it might upset you, but it’s starting to get a little worrying.”

“It’s nothing really,” Resus said, “I guess I’m just overthinking again, that’s all. Nothing to worry about.”

Despite wanting to push the conversation further, it was obvious that Resus didn’t want to talk about it, so Luke decided to change the subject by yawning and stretching his arms above his head. “Sure, I get that, but is there any reason why you had to do your overthinking so early in the morning? I haven’t had to get up with the sun since we returned the final relic. I don’t know how you managed it.”

“Well,” Resus said, his voice suddenly bitter and Luke glanced over at him in surprise. “I’m not a real vampire, so the sun doesn’t bother me.”

Suddenly, everything clicked into place in Luke’s mind and he nodded in recognition. “Ah,” He said. “This is about the Crimson Queen in the fairy realm.” He knew he’d hit the nail on the head when Resus flinched. “You know that you have nothing to be ashamed of. She manipulated you, that’s all.”

Resus shrugged off Luke’s words like a duck shaking off water. “She only got to me because she promised that she could make me a real vampire, and I wanted it so badly that I didn’t even think about the consequences.”

“Well, going by that logic, it’s just as much our fault as it is yours,” Luke said and Resus looked at him strangely. “We didn’t believe you when you started warning us about all the coincidences that were happening. We thought you were just being mean to Prince Harming, and that you were overreacting. I think that maybe he helped us think that you were talking nonsense. So really, we’re the ones who should be apologising for pushing you towards her in the first place.”

For a few tense moments, Resus was silent, fiddling with the edge of his cape as Luke watched the sun slowly climb its way above the ramshackle buildings. “She made me feel special.” He said quietly and Luke felt like someone had gripped at his heart. “More than I ever felt before. I forgot for a second that the fangs in my mouth were fake. That _I_ was a fake.”

“You’re not a fake to us,” Luke tried, “To us, you’re just a vampire who can walk in the sunlight and doesn’t drink blood. Other than that, you’re exactly the same as your parents.”

“Those are the two most important things that make a vampire a vampire,” Resus sighed and he sounded so pained that Luke winced. “I don’t even like seeing blood. I’m the worst vampire. I’m not even a good fake one! I wear white face-paint and dye my hair black but it never seems to work. Even the coloured contacts look shoddy!”

Luke kicked his feet against the wall again and eventually, Resus joined him, getting back into a comfortable rhythm. “Maybe, but you’ve done so much more than any vampire could have. I mean, how many vampires can claim that they’ve been to the Underlands twice and done all the crazy stupid things that we have? Can your parents?”

“No, but my parents don’t have to prove who they are,” Resus pointed out. “They don’t have to wear fake nails and clip-on fangs and dye their hair black. They just… live. Nobody questions who they are. I mean, it doesn’t happen much in Scream Street anymore, but with new people and when we leave the town, I have to pretend I’m someone I’m not, and it just gets so tiring trying to convince people that I’m a vampire when I’m obviously not.”

Holding his breath, Luke thought long and hard before he spoke and hoped that it was the right thing to say. “Well,” he began, and Resus looked over at him with something sad in his eyes. “It doesn’t matter what people think, because we love you, whether you’re a vampire or not. And if you really did get turned into one by the Crimson Queen, then we would have loved you still. Being a real vampire isn’t going to change you being our best friend. It’ll just change how you think about yourself. And hey-” he grinned. “It would just mean that you couldn’t go on as many crazy adventures with us that happen during the day!”

Resus looked like he was about to laugh, his smile the sweetest thing Luke had seen all day, but before he could reply a shrill, angry voice met their ears from down below. “Luke Watson!” Cleo shouted, hands on her hips. “What do you think you’re doing up there? I’ve been looking for you for ages! You were supposed to meet me at Eefa’s!”

Wincing, Luke looked over at Resus, who had a hand over his mouth to try and stop his laughter. “Sorry Cleo, I forgot. Uh- just let us come down…”

“Us?” Cleo demanded. “Who else is up there?”

Holding back laughter, Resus bend backwards over the wall until he was almost upside down and waved at her, his hair falling vertical towards the ground and his cape flapping in the wind. “M'lady,” he mocked, knowing full well how stupid he probably looked. “It seems like you have come to free me from the clutches of the big bad wolf.”

Cleo’s eyes widened under her bandages. “Resus!” She exclaimed. “I heard your dad mention that you weren’t at home when he woke up, but I never expected you to be holed up at Sneer Hall! You hate getting up early! What are you doing up there? Hang on- let me come up.”

“No way, blunder bandages,” Resus laughed. “Knowing you, you’d somehow find some crazy way to get yourself hurt or kidnapped or something just as weird. _We’ll_ come _down_.”

Before Resus could climb down, Luke placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder and Resus paused in his descent to look up at him. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah,” Resus said, a little relieved and much less tense than he was before. “Thanks, man.”

“What are friends for?” Leo shrugged. “Come on- we better not keep Cleo waiting any longer. Who knows how much patience she has left.”

As expected, Cleo was pouting when they reached the ground.


End file.
